Race for leadership of ANCYL carefully watched

Lobbying for positions in the new leadership of the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) has begun and a battle for its presidency is expected at the elective conference in September.

The league has played a crucial role in past elections in the ANC and the contests are being watched closely by those wanting to lead the organisation after the national leadership’s term expires in five years.

ANCYL treasurer-general Reggie Nkabinde, KwaZuluNatal ANCYL provincial secretary Thanduxolo Sabela and Ndumiso Mokako, of the ANCYL national executive committee, who comes from Mpumalanga, have thrown their names into the hat for the position of the ANCYL president.

Insiders say Nkabinde has been endorsed by Gauteng league structures and those from the Eastern Cape.

But his campaign is not without blemish as Nkabinde, owner of Mabala Noise music company, has been linked to dirty tender deals with the Department of Water and Sanitation while it was under Nomvula Mokonyane. Nkabinde’s detractors say his campaign will be ended once these tender deals are made public.

Sabela has not been quiet either, crisscrossing the country trying to persuade ANC structures to back him.

So far the KwaZulu-Natal ANCYL and eThekwini ANCYL regions have supported him to take over from league president Collen Maine.

Mlondi Mkhize, the ANCYL spokesman, has also been campaigning for Sabela.

Mokako also has powerful backers. His home province, Mpumalanga, has supported him. He is said to enjoy the support of Deputy President David Mabuza, who is said to want the league to be led by someone who would back him (Mabuza) when he vies for the position of the ANC and national president in the future.